


Hauntober

by Thunderlight



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Hauntober, Injury, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26756341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thunderlight/pseuds/Thunderlight
Summary: Fills for the hauntober prompts from tumblr. Tags will be added when the respective chapters get written.Chapter 1: Prowl learns how to make a jack-o-lantern.Chapter 2: Jazz visits Praxus during "fall", whatever that means. He can't wait to find out.Chapter 3: Continues "Leaves". Jazz wants to thank his savior, but nothing goes as planned.
Relationships: Jazz/Prowl
Comments: 26
Kudos: 37





	1. Pumpkin

**Author's Note:**

> So, I stumbled upon the hauntober prompts on tumblr and thought they might be fun to try. But since I'm very busy this month I probably won't manage to post one everyday. We'll see. Have fun reading :)

Prowl stared at the little girl and blinked. The human in question smiled back. Doubtful but unwilling to squash the girl's enthusiasm, Prowl mustered her. "I know human children require a lot of nourishment to grow, but a whole pumpkin seems a bit much for a single human. Especially if you need me to carry it for you", he said. A shrill laugh bubbled from the small human and Prowl had to keep himself from wincing. How could something so small be so loud?

"It's not for food, dummy!" He decided to ignore the insult, after all they had been informed by the staff that children could be carefree in their choice of words.

"Well, that seems like a waste of perfectly good 'food'." He still had to get used to human terminology, unlike some of his fellow Autobots. Prowl glanced over to Jazz. Blending in with the native species had soon become second nature to his partner. Currently being climbed over by his own group of little humans, Jazz had been the sole reason Prowl was in this situation. The situation being a visit to a child care center with an Autobot tactician well out of his comfort zone and a not-so-small fear of messing something up an causing an interspecies conflict. Organics were in general very protective of their young and inconveniently easily squashed by a well meaning Cybertronian. Or insulted. Sometimes, that was enough. Luckily for him, the girl seemed to find his nescience more funny than insulting.

“It’s for halloween!”, she said and looked expectantly up at him, as if that would explain it all.

“What’s halloween?” Going by her shocked expression that was the wrong thing to say. “You don’t know halloween?” Prowl shook his head.

“Halloween is like a big party! Everyone wears costumes and gets lots of candies and there are ghosts and stuff! And every house has a jack-o-lantern! This year, I want to have the biggest and scariest one of all! And I need a big pumpkin to make one! And your help. Please?”

Prowl nodded. He could to that. He didn’t get the appeal of this halloween, but then he didn’t need to. With a happy squeak the girl darted over to where Hound had loaded off some pumpkins earlier. At least now Prowl knew why the childcare center had asked the Autobots to pick them up on the way here.

Prowl followed the girl at a more measured pace, paying mind to where he stepped. The girl inspected every pumpkin, using her hand to measure their height. While that was a rather inaccurate way of measuring, she seemed so concentrated and determined, Prowl didn’t dare disturb her. Most of the pumpkins were pretty evenly sized, so it took her a while to settle on one. Then, she nodded to herself, turned around to Prowl and pointed at one pumpkin. “That one!”

Prowl nodded again, carefully lifting the chosen pumpkin with two fingers. “Where to?”

“To the carving table!”, the girl shouted and ran ahead. Prowl obediently followed.

One of the adults at the table explained the steps to carve a pumpkin and cautioned him not to let a knife near the young human. He was deemed safe enough to help the girl to hollow out the pumpkin by himself. Alone. The girl had decided to sit on his folded legs, and told him stories about halloween and ghosts and headless horsemen. Though he doubted the reality of these beings, the girl seemed to have fun telling them. So he listened and asked questions. His nervousness slowly eased away the longer they talked. As the pumpkin was completely hollow, she and his legs were covered on orange goo. Well, had had endured far worse. To his relief, one of the adults did the actual carving, carefully following the lines the girl had drawn on their pumpkin. For the last step, Prowl held the pumpkin, while the girl placed a candle inside.

A hand clasped on his shoulder. Prowl looked back at a smiling Jazz. "Hey. What have you two been up to?"

Smiling, Prowl presented their finished pumpkin. "We made a jack-o-lantern."

"It's the biggest and scariest of all!", the girl exclaimed.

Jazz took in the pumpkin, then the proud human sitting on Prowl’s leg. "Awesome! Was my Prowler a good little helper?"

"Yeah, he's great!" Prowls spark warmed at the enthusiasm with which the little human spoke those words. Jazz sat down next to him and laid an arm around Prowl’s shoulder. "See, I told you the humans would like you."


	2. Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz visits Praxus during "fall", whatever that means. He can't wait to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter got posted way later than I had planned. It fought me claws and teeth throughout editing and I'm still not completely happy with it. Sorry for any mistakes.

Jazz sat in the transport. Or he tried to. He was so excited he could barely keep his body still. It was really happening. His childhood dream was about to come true. Ha was finally visiting Praxus.

In preparation for his journey he had bought some travel guides to read on the flight. But now they were lying in his subspace, barely touched. He was just too giddy with excitement to concentrate. And after he had scrolled over five pages without reading anything on them, he had given up. At least now he knew he was about to visit Praxus in the “fall” season, whatever that meant. He couldn’t wait find out firsthand.

As the transport docked, he practically jumped out of his seat and was out before the other passengers had even stood up. Walking through the Praxus Main Station, he barely took his gaze of the crystalline murals and windows to look where he was going. Finally, he reached the main entrance and looked upon the beauty that was Praxus. Colorful crystals lined the sidewalks, even more were integrated into the city’s architecture, making the buildings sparkle in the midday sun. The view was anything he had hoped for and more.

And the trees! In the last few vorns a new trend had taken over the city. An adventurous crystal cultivator had managed to crossbreed native Cybertronian crystals with Valonian silver trees. After the image of organic fauna, these techno-organic trees formed crystal buds on their branches. Over time, they grew into crystalline leaves. Jazz had heard much about them. But now, looking at the large tree in the plaza in front of the station, Jazz decided the pictures and videos hadn’t done them justice. The transparent blue leaves painted the whole plaza in equally blue streams of light, dancing in the soft breeze.

A quick glance at his chrono showed he still had plenty of time before he had to check in at the hotel. And he knew exactly what he wanted to do. He brought up a city map, then made his way towards the Praxian Grand Garden. While he had planned a whole day to really explore Praxus’ biggest crystal garden, Jazz wanted to get a first look.

The entrance was a big archway made of red crystal, that seemed to glow from the inside out. Big and small crystals grew in beautiful formations, glowing crystals and singing crystals formed small caves to explore, here and there Jazz found himself in a hidden alcove for private moments. Next to each crystal was at least one signboard with some information and fun facts. Jazz ignored them in favor of taking in the many impressions around him.

Before long he found himself in the crystalline forest. Since the crystal trees had conquered Praxus, the garden had expanded into a small forest showing the many variants of crystal trees. Most often one tree carried one variety of crystal leaves, but sometimes Jazz noticed trees with different crystals on different branches. Winding pathways lit by the colorful reflection of the leaves led through the forest, small crystal growths flanking the sides of the path. Even though the gardens were at the heart of the city, it was quiet here, the busy noise of the city unable to reach into the forest. The gardens themselves were quiet already, but here the silence was downright eerie.

Come to think of it, there weren't many people around, either. Jazz looked around, but from where he was, he couldn't see anyone else. Weird. Then again with all the hiding spots he had already found, maybe the forest was designed to spread the visitors thin and give them a feeling of solitude. Either way, Jazz wasn't about to complain he got to experience this beautiful sight without any distractions.

He walked on, watching the leaves move in the light breeze, listening to the soft chimes when they clinked together. Their colorful reflections danced on the ground as well as his frame and a deep sense peace reached out into his spark, calming him to the slow melody of the crystal leaves. Then something hit him.

Startled, he rubbed his head. That had been way too close to one of his sensor horns. They were very sensitive; it would be no fun to get hit on those. A few feet away from him he found an orange crystal leaf laying on the ground. Jazz looked around, ready to give whoever had thrown it a piece of his mind, not only for throwing crystals at strangers but also for damaging the beautiful trees. There was no sign of anyone. Huh.

He decided to just go on and keep his sensors out for any wayward younglings, when something crunched under his pedes. A now broken yellow crystal leaf. He must have stepped on it. Wind rustled through the leaves, letting them sing again. This time Jazz heard a few sharp ringing notes that sprung out of the melody of the forest. A dull thud sounded behind him. Jazz whirled around to see a red leaf just a few paces behind him. Before he could even begin to wonder, an avalanche of crystal leaves came down on him.

He cried out, lifting his arms to shield his head from the surprisingly heavy assault. There were so many leaves that they pushed him down with their combined weight. Just a few nano-klicks later, it was over. Not trusting the peace just yet, Jazz was hesitant to move. Covered in a pile of leaves, most of which were miraculously still intact, he waited, but nothing happened.

His limbs ached as he moved them, leaves piling into the space he had just occupied. Somehow, he shoved enough leaves aside to see his surroundings again. As he tried to sit up, a sharp sting shot up his side. Scrap, he must have pulled something as he fell. He tried again, but couldn’t move his left leg. Great, this was just great.

"Hello?" Jazz' head snapped up. Someone was calling, but Jazz couldn't see anyone.

"Is there anyone here?" There it was again. What he was sure was a deep and pleasant voice, distorted by the trees, reached him. Or maybe he had taken some damage to his audios, too. He couldn’t tell where the voice came from, so he craned his neck, trying to look in every direction.

"Here!" Jazz shouted as loud as he could. He hoped whoever was there could locate his call.

"Are you ok?", the voice asked. Jazz still couldn't tell were the shouts came from. They seemed to emanate from all around him.

"Not really! I would really appreciate some help right now!" Jazz answered, hoping dearly he wasn't just imagining the voice. But then again, even if the voice wasn't real, maybe someone real would hear him and get help.

“Keep talking, I’ll find you! What happened?”, the voice said.

"I'm here!" Jazz repeated. "There was some kind of- I don't know! Suddenly all the leaves were falling from the tree and hit me, and I was falling, and-" Finally Jazz spied a silhouette down the path. Relief flooded him. Instead of continuing, he lifted an arm to wave.

The mech hurrying towards him carried an umbrella, even though there wasn't supposed to be any rain today. As he drew nearer, Jazz could make out a black and white paint job, and the standard markings of the Praxian enforcers. The mech took a quick glance up, before he set the umbrella aside and knelt next to Jazz.

"Can you get up?“, he asked, his deep voice, now clear, send shivers through Jazz' frame. Ice blue optics mustered Jazz from a sharp angular face. It was just his luck that he was found by what had to be the most beautiful enforcer in Praxus.

"I think I pulled something. I can't move my leg."

The absent look of a mech talking over comes crossed the enforcers face, before his optics focused on Jazz again. "An ambulance is on its way, though I have to get you out of here. The forest is dangerous to navigate during fall, as you have experienced for yourself. Would it be all right if I carried you to the northern entrance? It isn't far."

"Uh... sure, mech.” While Jazz normally would have preferred to make a better first impression on someone this handsome, he had little choice. And there were far worse things than being carried. “If you can carry me?" Jazz wasn’t heavy, but no lightweight either.

"Don't worry, I'm stronger than I look." Was that a hint of a smile on the mech’s face? Jazz wasn't sure and a nano-klick later it was gone. The mech gave him the umbrella to hold, then carefully arranged Jazz in his arms.

"Is this ok?", he asked, as he stood. Jazz nodded. The mech began walking at a brisk pace, though he was careful not to jostle Jazz too much.

Jazz still didn't really have an idea what was going on, so after a few moments he worked up his courage to ask. "So, what happened there? Why did all those crystals come down on me? Was the tree mad at me or something?" That earned him a chuckle.

"Or something. You know the crystal trees are made after organic flora, right?" The enforcer asked. Jazz nodded, he had read that much.

"Crystal cultivators have experimented with different materials to grow different kinds of crystal trees.”, the enforcer continued. “Some of the species have developed a rather curious feature, apparently shared by their organic counterparts. Once every solar rotation they shed their leaves. And they are rather sudden about it. Those kinds of trees are normally not found in public spaces, the garden’s forest being the only exception. During this time the staff puts up signs marking the crystal forest as off limits. Though, sometimes tourists ignore those signs.” He added the last sentence with a pointed look at Jazz, who felt his face grow hot. He had indeed seen some signs in front of the forest, but thinking they were for informational purposes, he had paid them no mind. "And I'm one of the idiots who didn't see the sings... Sorry for the trouble, mech."

The enforcer shook his head. “At least now you know there’s a reason we call this season fall.” Huh, that made sense. So, he had indeed found out what that meant firsthand. Not what he had in mind when he had thought those words earlier and he could have done without the injury, thank you very much. At least from down here he had a good view of his savior’s face, lit by the sparkling crystals.

Calling upon Unicron, Jazz heard the chaotic telltale chime, before another pile of leaves came down on them. The enforcer’s grip on him tightened, shielding Jazz as much with his frame as with the umbrella. The latter was a surprisingly good defense, its shape sending the crystals flying in all directions, so when the avalanche stopped a few nano-klicks later, they weren't stuck in a leaf pile. Adjusting his grip on Jazz, the officer hurried on.

“It’s more common than you think for people to ignore the signs. There is always a patrol here, just to be safe.”, the enforcer said, as if he could sense Jazz’ remaining discomfort. Still, it did little to ease Jazz’ spark. He should have read the signs; he should have read the damn travel guide! Though he couldn’t bring himself to regret meeting the enforcer. There was something special about him, Jazz could feel it.

A few steps later Jazz could already see the edge of the forest, the city life gleaming through the tree line. Sound penetrated the quiet, growing louder as they came closer to the end of the garden. The northern entrance lay directly behind the tree line, with just a few crystal bushes lining the short way down to the archway, where an ambulance was already waiting.

The enforcer hurried down, placing Jazz carefully in the waiting stretcher in the ambulance's cargo hold. Just as his hands threatened to disappear, Jazz gripped his arms. "Wait. I didn't catch your name." Jazz wanted to know who had saved him, and not only to properly thank him later. For some reason it was very important that he knew the mech’s name, he could feel it.

"Prowl", the enforcer answered.

"Prowl..." Jazz tasted the name on his glossa. Speaking it out loud felt odd, somehow exertive, like his vocalizer was trying to pry something out of the air. But it was a good name for a good mech. He liked it.

"Thank you. I'm Jazz, by the way. " He let Prowls hands go. Prowl nodded, then vanished from Jazz’ view. The ambulance drove off and Jazz felt the familiar tingle of a medical scan go through his frame. He was asked some questions about his injury, which answered as well was he could. But his mind was captured by soft ice blue optics, and a deep, soothing voice. Prowl.


	3. Tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continues "Leaves". Jazz wants to thank his savior, but nothing goes as planned.

The next day found Jazz in front of the police station closest to the Grand Garden. Luckily his injury had been an easy fix and he had managed to be at the hotel before his room was given to someone else.  
The whole day he kept thinking about Prowl. There was just something about the mech. Jazz couldn’t say what, but he was enraptured. He needed to see Prowl again. At least to thank him properly for the rescue. He hoped Prowl would take kindly to an invitation to a nice crystal tea. It fit the theme of their meeting, Jazz thought.

With a deep invent to calm his nerves, he stepped in. The stationed was calm this early in the day. So calm the officer at the front desk was reading.

"Excuse me", Jazz said. The mech looked up from his data pad and mustered him with a bored expression.

"What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for officer Prowl." The mech raised an optical ridge.

"Never heard of him." That was certainly not what Jazz had expected to hear.

"He helped me yesterday", Jazz tried again, "I was hit by falling leaves. And I wanted to thank him. Maybe invite him to a crystal tea?" Jazz winced. He didn’t have to say that last part. 

At least that seemed to ring a bell. "You're the tourist that wandered into the forest? Must have misheard, Roadblock was the who dragged you to the ambulance. His workstation is over there." The mech pointed over his shoulder.

Roadblock? That wasn't right. Jazz’ savior was Prowl, of that he was absolutely certain. And he sure as heck hadn't been dragged to the ambulance! For a moment Jazz was too stunned to react, and when the enforcer noticed Jazz hadn't moved from his spot, he looked over his shoulder. The desk he had pointed to was empty.

“Oh, sorry, he must be around here somewhere. I'll call him for you."  
The mech reached for his com link.

"Thanks, but I'm really sure that Prowl-", but his protest was ignored.

"Hey, Roadblock", the enforcer barked into his com, "The Poly from yesterday is here to thank you."

Why wouldn’t the mech listen to him? Jazz took a deep vent, then tried again. He was here to see Prowl. "Uhm, again, thank you, but I’m really sure-" 

And again, the mech interrupted him. "Look, I know the schedules for everyone here. And I can assure you, Roadblock was the only enforcer in the forest yesterday. You probably were in shock and misheard his name, it happens. Don't worry about it." With that, he lifted his data pad and continued reading. Case closed.

Jazz was left confused. Could it be possible that he really had misheard the name? Sure, as Prowl had called out for him his voice had been distorted. And Jazz had wondered if his audios had been damaged. But when Prowl had been right in front of him his voice had been clear as day.

Had he been in shock? He had felt pretty normal, aside from the pain. He was certain he got the name right… But did he really? Jazz decided to wait and see. Right now, the only way to tell was when he stood in front of his savior. Maybe he really had misheard the name somehow.

A few moments later an enforcer strolled towards him, a big grin on his face. With his green and brown plating and yellow optics one thing was sure: this mech was not his savior.

Still, he walked right towards Jazz. "Hello", he greeted Jazz with a voice way too shrill. The pitch stung in Jazz’ audios. This wasn't the same mech. There was no way he had been so out of it that he had seen Prowl instead of... well _that_.

"I'm glad to see your leg is all fixed up!”, Roadblock continued. Huh, how did he know his leg was hurt? The mech at the front desk had told him Jazz was a Polyhexian, so there was no surprise Roadblock had come straight at him. It was something else to know the nature of his injury. “Sorry, what was your name again? I didn’t catch it yesterday." 

Somehow, that question irked Jazz. Sure, you could forget a name, Jazz did too, sometimes. Still… Prowl wouldn’t have forgotten his name this quickly, he just knew.  
“Jazz.” His answer came out a bit gruff, but he didn’t care.

Jazz was at a loss. How was he supposed to react? He was sure this had to be some kind of mix-up or prank or something. It had to be. Right?

While Jazz pondered his questions, he hadn’t realized Roadblock had been talking. Luckily, the mech came to an end right as Jazz tuned in again. He laughed, then gave Jazz an expectant look. “So, what can I do for you?”

“Uh…” Preferably nothing, since Jazz wasn’t here for him. But it had been no use to explain that before, and somehow he had a feeling it wouldn’t be any use to try and explain it again.

"Ah, don't be shy." The mech at the front desk threw in again, "He wanted to invite you to a crystal tea for your trouble. Probably still embarrassed he misheard your name, even though I already told him it's no biggie."

Roadblock laid an arm around Jazz shoulders. "Aw, that's sweet. I can take my break a bit early, that's fine. And I know of a nice café we can go to, it's right next to the garden... ", Roadblock babbled on while he practically shoved Jazz out into the open.

What the frag was happening? Jazz was too perplexed and lost to do anything but walk and nod along to the continuous stream of words that came from Roadblock’s mouth. As they came closer and closer to the garden, a heavy feeling manifested in Jazz' tanks. Something was weird was going on. Then Roadblock changed topics.

“There are always some idiots that ignore the signs. Not that you’re an idiot! It’s just… exhausting to deal with people running into the into the same trap again and again! Speaking of traps, yesterday some youngster managed to get stuck in the guardrail on the main highway just as I went out to patrol. Spend the whole shift getting him out of there without cutting into him. No idea how he managed to get stuck there half transformed… Ended up disassembling the rail and left the part of separating the mech to the medics… Anyway-”

Wait, what? That couldn’t be right. By now they had reached the café, and Jazz sat down on autopilot.  
“You spend your whole shift there, yesterday?” Jazz said, half talking over the guy to get anything in. He knew a few mechanisms that liked to hear themselves talk but this guy was a whole new level.

“Yup. Took forever, as I said. Went right home after, that was enough stupidity for one day.” A server came, and Jazz pointed at something random on the menu, too focused on this new piece of information.

“And you saved me from the crystal forest yesterday?”, Jazz hurried to add, before Roadblock changed the topic again. It was impossible that Roadblock was his savior, the mech had just said so himself!

“Yeah,that was quite awesome of me, huh? Yesterday sure was a hell of a day, and the forest patrols are always so boring. I rather prefer the more heroic aspects of police work. Just like the time when…”

Jazz stared at him. It took all his strength not to let his mouth hang open. Roadblock hadn’t even batted an optic. For all Jazz knew, the mech truly believed he had been in the forest and the highway at the same time. The contradiction didn’t register. Not one bit. Either Roadblock was an exceptional liar, or something else was going on. He still hoped that this was some kind of prank or setup, that would be revealed soon. Otherwise, he didn’t know what to do. This whole situation was just too absurd!

“Do you know a mech named Prowl?”, Jazz asked, not caring at all that he interrupted one of Roadblock oh so amazing stories. Not that the mech cared or even noticed. He stopped mid-sentence to answer, “Never heard that name”, then returned to his story without missing a beat. 

The sinking feeling in Jazz’ tanks just grew stronger. Something wasn’t right. Something was definitely not right. And he would find out what. At this moment, he vowed to find out what was going on, to find Prowl. No matter what.

The server chose that moment to return with their orders. A cup of steaming tea was placed in front of him. It smelled sweet. Normally, Jazz would be excited to try it, savoring every sip. Now though, the weight in his tank was making him feel nauseous, and his company did little to easy his discomfort. Roadblock kept going on and on and just. Wouldn’t. Shut. Up. 

Finally, after what felt to Jazz like an eternity, Roadblock had to return to the precinct. He gave Jazz his com number, saying they could meet again later for something more exciting. Ugh. Jazz suppressed a shudder. If he never saw that mech again it would be too soon. Instead of saying that put loud, Jazz just smiled politely.

After Roadblock was gone, Jazz took a moment to collect himself and rest his hurting audios. He looked down at his barely touched tea. It was good, he could tell from just a few sips, but this whole situation spoiled the experience. He thought back to yesterday. To ice blue optics and a faint smile. He would find Prowl. And then he would come back here to enjoy some tea with his true savior.


End file.
